Wonder Adventures Blog

Black Friday is one aspect of the human world that Elves really don’t get!

For a start, the word black – what is black about an Elves word or Christmas? Nothing!! Believe me the only black you find at the North Pole is the sky and this is full of twinkling stars!

The second thing that doesn’t sit well with Elves is the emphasis on consumption, greed and materialism. Santa’s Elves are obviously into, no not just into; PASSIONATE; about making toys and giving gifts. But not because they are the latest gadget or for the sake of having. And it’s certainly not about quantity; it’s about quality! The ethos of Santa and his Elves is to give thoughtful gifts that mean a lot to children and make them feel loved and special. Often this can be one, carefully chosen toy that is perfect for that child and what pushes their excited buttons! It’s parents that often think they have to pile the gifts up and achieve quantity over quality! The spirit of Christmas is all about thinking about others, being kind, helpful and loving. So linking Black Friday with Christmas is not something that true Elves are keen to do!

The third aspect is to do with the world around us. Santa and his Elves live in a secret, magical, unspoilt part of the earth, which luckily humans cannot get to. But the Elves still want to encourage humans to look after the human inhabited part of the world. And encouraging over consumption of ‘stuff’ doesn’t do that!

And lastly, Christmas is mostly about magical memories. The letters that Santa receives (like this one)…that ask for non-material things are his favourite. Ok, he sadly cannot always deliver on the request but he does his best and where he cannot he will try to help with a gift instead.

Time with the family is something that a lot of children write to Santa about and it’s not just kids who want time with parents; adults want time with kids. And spending time with kids over the Christmas period has such a magical impact on grown up’s and allows them to release their inner child and celebrate the magic and joy that is Christmas.

So we Elves would much prefer that instead of accepting all the Black Friday marketing blurb, instead come up with some plans for your time in December where you can spend time together as a family and feel the true spirit of Christmas together.

If you start to blast out Christmas songs in November, invariably you get someone within minutes telling you ‘it’s too early’ and ‘you shouldn’t even be thinking about Christmas until December” and other varying phrases at different levels on the grumpy “don’t say the ‘C’ word yet!

But for us, as soon as the last sparkler goes out on Bonfire night, then it’s time for Mulled Wine, mince pies, Christmas music and movies!! And why not? Especially if you have kids.

I worked out that for each child, if you assume they are into the full on Christmas magic for 10 years (which obviously might be more or less depending on the child). And discounting the first year as they obviously would rather rip up a cardboard box and likely cling to you and howl if you try and get them to meet the Big Man; that means you have on average 9 Christmas’s to really feel the magic with your child. To put it bluntly. If you don’t start getting excited with your nippers until December, then you only have a total of 27 weeks of singing Christmas songs, or put another way; just 189 days of festive magic with your under 10!!!

Of course my wish if for my kids to continue to watch Nativity, Elf and listen to Slade with me until we can then do the same with their children!! But being realistic about it, once they turn into teenagers, you can’t always do exactly the same magical stuff you can do when they are little.

Of course if you have more than one child and depending on how spread out they are, you may have many more days than this. I am lucky to have 9 years between my eldest and youngest and so I double the numbers here in terms of magical Christmas days!

But that’s why I want to double them again!! Ultimately what’s the harm in the excitement starting in November? I don’t put our tree up until Dec 1st, mainly because it would be thread bear and looking very sorry for itself by Dec 25th! But there is nothing wrong with a good Christmas movie, sing song or Christmas story in November.

And to those Scrooges who mutter about commercialism and companies being greedy and all that jazz; they clearly fail to see the benefits to the economy that a bit of Christmas excitement brings to the country. If a company is doing well selling products or magical Christmas experiences, food or drink, then they in turn plough that back into the economy, which provides jobs and income, resulting in money being spent all year round and ultimately families therefore being able to have a happier Christmas!

So, for me; Christmas has many far reaching benefits; doing magical experiences together with our family has far reaching benefits for the community and ultimately and fundamentally magical time with our kids has far reaching benefits for our family. So we want to make the most of that!!

So come on get the Christmas songs on the speaker, make some mince pies and enjoy some quality time together. Life is short and childhood is ever more fleeting so let’s relish in the magic while we can. Let’s also reclaim some of the magic of our past and see how good it is for our soul! I know singing loudly to ‘Feed the World’ reminds me of what is important and nourishes my soul!!

Here are 5 great Christmas activities to do with the kids in November:

1/Make mince meat. Unless you are one of those super organised types who does it in January (do they exist?!) chances are you won’t have done this. And if you have never made your own mince pies before preferring to fall back on shop bought ones; but believe me they are so much nicer. And making mince-meat is so easy and non-accurate that it’s a brilliant cooking activity that the kids can get really involved in – and who doesn’t love a good old mix?!!

2/ Plan the Christmas dinner together– still on food (let’s face it, it’s one of the best things about Christmas!) getting the kids involved in planning the Christmas feast is something that they love and also is a lot of fun, plus it actually is helpful to get ahead! As we all know once December starts its such mayhem, time for planning is few and far between. So actually some time leafing through glossy Christmas magazines and recipes and getting the kids to cut out and make a montage of their favourite pictures and tastiest ideas if a great way to get them on board with food education and appreciation too!

3/ Santa letters! Everyone knows that Santa appreciates being given some time! After all he can’t make everyone’s toys in one month! So the earlier the kids do their letters the easier it makes it for the Big Man!

4/ Christmas movies!! You can’t beat an Autumn Sunday afternoon snuggled on the sofa with a movie and hot chocolate. And if you leave it until December, chances are all your weekends will be jammed packed and you’ll realise you haven’t watched any of the Christmas movies that you wanted to. So why not start now! Let’s be honest you can’t beat a good Christmas movie so make the most of them from now! Our favourites for watching in November are Nativity (and any of the sequels!), Home Alone and Elf!

5/ Christmas stories!! There are so many great Christmas books and stories if you wait until December to start reading them all you don’t get enough time to read them all! So start reading the Christmas stories with the kids in November and they will love it (as will you!)

The leaves are falling, the weather is turning and the nights are getting darker – cue October half term fun with the kids!!

So as usual we’ve got our round up of holiday fun activities and events to do with the kids; including free and paid activities; scary and non-scary, day and night; there is something for every family!

So get your planner out and check out these great events and activities for October half term for the kids…

Red House Farm, Dunham Massey

Thousands of pumpkins across the fields mean its one of the best locations for Pumpkin picking in the North West. Add to this half term fun including Spook hunt, the barrel train, climbing wall, inflatables and fancy dress competition AND Hocus Pocus School of Wizardy is also running from Thurs 25th – Sun 28th Oct.

More information here –

http://www.redhousefarm.co.uk/halloween.html

Bents Garden and Home; Pumpkin painting, Hocus Pocus School of Wizardry and much more

Children can enjoy pumpkin painting activities in the run up to Halloween.

Create a truly unique pumpkin using paints and glitter. Sessions cost £6, with tickets available online , and run 9am to 11am from October 25 to October 28.

And if your half term is running the week after then Hocus Pocus School of Wizardry is also taking place on Mon 29th and Tues 30th. Pre booking essential.

Willow the Wisp and the Fire Sprite

Embark on a magical walkabout fairytale adventure Willo the Wisp & the Fire Sprite in parks and woodlands across Merseyside this autumn. Enrol at Wizard School and go on a quest with the Story Wizard to find the Wisp and save the Fire Sprite Princess Ember.

Along the way you will meet lots of fairytale characters – trees elves, fire sprites, white witches, gnomes, wisps and trolls; in beautiful locations around the parks. You can choose to go on your adventure by daylight or twilight depending on how brave you feel. Music, dance, light, fairies and fire will bewitch your mind and dazzle your senses – wrap up warm and don’t miss this spectacular family walkabout adventure!

Halloween in the City; Manchester city centre

Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 October 2018

Plenty of tricks. Plenty more treats. Mark the arrival of Halloween with a weekend of terrifyingly good events. Featuring: momentous monsters, petrifying parades, a trick or treat trail and a gigantic ghostly gathering – plus events and offers from the biggest, baddest names in shopping, food and drink.

Museums at Night: Trick or Treat Experience

Saturday 27 October 2018
Lion Salt Works, Northwich

Aimed at children aged 4-9. Join for a night of frights at the museum as we lock the doors and meet the ghostly characters who come out to play at night. Put on your scariest costume and join our ghostly tours around the site, go trick or treating in a safe environment, and listen to spooky stories about the mysterious happenings at the salt works. 4.30pm will be our Autism Friendly Tour, with a quieter tour and lights on.http://lionsaltworks.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk/

Manchester Science Festival

Get hands on and up close with scientists, hackers, coders, artists, musicians, experiments, explosions, space and lots more this half term from 22 October to 1 November at the 9th Manchester Science Festival. The 11 day exploration and celebration of the wonders of science features largely free and drop-in activities, shows and events for all ages at the museum and many venues across Greater Manchester.

http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com

Brick or TreatLEGOLAND Discovery Centre Manchester

20 Oct – 04 Nov

This October bring your little monsters to the LEGOLAND® Discovery Centre Manchester and get into the Halloween spirit with our Brick or Treat event!

Featuring some fun spook-tacular activities such as:

Creepy creations – Add your creation to our LEGO® pumpkin patch

‘Scarevenger’ hunt

Spooky stop motion animation

Meet and greet with our new Halloween character mascot!

Scarily themed mini land

Limited Edition pop-badges and factory bricks whilst stocks last

Not only that but all little Vampires go free! – All kids who come down to this event in Halloween costume will gain free entry into the attraction! Please note; 1 free child per paying adult.

Brick or Treat is on from 20October – 4November … BOOk now before those naughty LEGO® ghosts beat you to it!

Wicked treats at the Trafford Centre

Visitors to the Trafford Centre will be treated to special performances from the West End and Broadway musical sensation Wicked.

The show is returning to Manchester for one last time this December and to celebrate cast members will appear on the main stage in The Orient to perform a selection of songs from the show.

Performances will take place at various times over the weekend of Saturday, October 27 and Sunday, October 28.

Fans will also be able to get up close and personal with some of the production’s award-winning costumes, which will be on display in the Main Dome from the Sunday for three weeks.

During October half term the shopping centre is being transformed for the spooky celebration.

The annual intu trick or treat family event is taking place on Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26, from 10am to 2pm.

Little trick or treaters can pick up their free special Halloween bucket from the customer services desk and then scour the centre for specially decorated pumpkins in spooky windows to collect their treats.

Trafford Centre, Trafford, Manchester, M17 8AA.

Halloween Ghost Trains, East Lancashire Railway

Ghost trains will be rattling through Greater Manchester on the East Lancashire Railway again this Halloween.

A ghastly cast of giggling ghouls, ghosts and goblins will be joining any passengers brave enough to board the spooky steam train services from Bury to Rawtenstall and back.

There’ll be goody bags full of tricks and treats for every child as well as food and drink for everyone at the station buffet.

Bury Transport Museum will also be hosting a creepy craft workshop as part of the fun.

The ghost train is running on October 26, 27 and 31, at 5.30pm, 6.30pm, 7.30pm and 8.30pm each day.

Tickets are on sale now, priced at £15.50 for adults and £9.50 for children aged 3 to 17, on the website here.

East Lancashire Railway, Bolton Street, Bury, BL9 0EY.

Halloween at Blackpool Pleasure Beach

Blackpool welcomes Vampire Pleasure Beach this Halloween.

A drive-in cinema will screen three horror classics for older ones with Nightmare on Elm Street, The Conjuring 2 and Halloween H:20 between October 29 and 31.

Guests are invited to enjoy the thrills, spills and screams at the popular amusement park, all from the comfort of their own car.

The drive-in cinema is just one of a series of spooky events at the attraction.

From October 27 Vampire Pleasure Beach will be transformed into a spine-tingling sight, with zombies, vampires and goblins around every corner.

Visitors are encouraged to ‘dress to thrill’ in their spookiest costumes, while the Spooky Maze will also provide a fright with ghosts and ghouls around every corner, and park visitors can ride into the twilight with a special late night experience. A magnificent firework display will finish the evening at 10pm.

For little ones Creepy Hollow comes alive between October 20 and 31, an interactive experience with some gruesome real life animals, such as giant snails, cockroaches and snakes.

Pumpkin carving and face painting will also be available from October 26 to 28

For further details on dates, tickets and age restrictions visit the website here.

Screamania Halloween Family Fun event, Reddish Vale Park

20th to 28th October 2018.

Lots of spooky fun for all the family to enjoy across the half term. From live actors, special effects, spooky challenges and lots more. See here for all the details .

Halloween is only a few weeks away and so our very own Daisy (AKA Hermonie from Harry Potter in this video!) has created a new video on her Daisy’s Days youtube channel that shows you how to make the perfect, slimy, sparkly and fun slime!!

So if you are looking for a slime recipe and demonstration perfect for your little monsters this Halloween check out this slime video…

Daisy’s top tips to the best slime? Read on here…

1/ The slime activator that Daisy uses is simply contact lens solution. However don’t just buy the cheapest as they don’t work as well and the key to good slime is for it to be slimy and stringy! So go for a mid range one! We find the Boots one like the one here works best.

It’s October; its blustery; the leaves are leaving the trees and Autumn is definitely here. Time to be starting to bring our thoughts to Christmas…

Pumpaa, Sprout and their Elves are always thinking Christmas of course and finaly it’s the time of year when they like to share with you their roundup of their favourite toys for 2018…. So if you are looking for some inspiration here are their top picks for toys for Christmas 2018 ……

WowWee Toys’ have been producing the popular Fingerlings in all kinds of animals and are all about dinosaurs (or unicorns, if you fancy something a little less roar-y). The Raptors have 4 to choose from and our Elf ears have been whispered to that there may be a T-Rex that will be roaring into the shops before Christmas too! So watch this space….as we Elves love Dinosaurs we are sure to tell you when we get our first batch of them!!!

The dinos are slightly bigger than their monkey predecessors, and interact, wrap around your finger, learn to talk and roar and respond to motion and sound just like other Fingerlings. Expect lots of cute growls and roars!!

There is also a Fingerlings Dino cage, which will cost £39.99 and Argos have predicted this will be one of their top toys for the year, so you can keep your Dino Fingerlings at your fingertips!

From Dinosaurs to more furry, less roar-y pets – the cute Furreal Friends pup Ricky has more than 100 sound and motion combinations – from balancing a biscuit on his nose to giving you a paw-shake! He’s cuddly, soft and will no doubt soon become your child’s new best friend!

If you are being badgered into getting a real pet but you’re not quite sure yet then Ricky is purrrrfect!!!

We Elves love a game (as does Santa, but shhh don’t tell anyone!!) and this is a crazy fun one for the whole family! The hat plays music, and while the beats are going, the crown spins round and the wearer has to eat as many of the attached food items as possible.

Of course – you can choose whatever snacks you fancy, from marshmallows to strawberries to crisps or anything else you have around.

Perfect to involve granny in just after she’s had her post-Christmas dinner sherry!!!

We love a puppet set – you can’t beat the magic of playing creatively and low tech with the kids (see our blog here on Imaginative play ideas with your children) and especially when you combine play with timeless stories you have a winner in Elf terms! These puppets are themed around Roald Dahl’s chocolatey-adventure book classic. You get one Willy Wonka hand puppet and then finger puppets of the 5 golden-ticket winners Charlie Bucket, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, Augustus Gloop, and Mike Teavee.

No Christmas toys round up would be complete without something from Lego on it (and we have 2 on here of course!)

This lovely play set has all your child needs for some super-fun train action. It includes a harbour, boat, café, loading station, 2 cranes, 3 DUPLO figures plus an animal figure and lots of cool track pieces included in this set.

Unicorns are this year’s rage! And the Fantasy Unicorn from Vtech is great and bit a different from a lot of the other unicorns you see in the shops; it has an animatronic wand, which lets your little one alter the toy’s colours. The wand also lets little ones digitally apply make-up.

If your child likes playing with dolls heads or pretend make up they will love this…

We posted in previous years about Pie Face – one of the Elves favourite games! Last year they came back with Pie Face sky high, the free standing ‘fairground’ style version of the popular game. And now for 2018 those clever Elves have created Pie Face Cannon. The cannon fires a pie EVERY time and it’s up to the target to make sure they use the red hand in time to stop themselves from getting truly, madly pied!! Oh the Elves loved testing this one!!

Lego item number two, we had to include as it is the winter train – and you know us Elves love a train around the Christmas tree!!

This is a gorgeous Christmas-themed Lego set, which is not just a cool Lego kit but is also a working train set, with 16 curved pieces of track. There’s a brilliant steam engine and 5 mini-figures plus a rotating Christmas tree and gifts. Would be great to go under your Christmas tree, if you child lets you get your hands on it….

This magical toddler ride-on comes complete with clip-clop sounds and blue-maned horse. You can take the reins and pull the carriage along or let your child hold the reins, while you push it along using the handle on the roof.

You can also remove the carriage floor if your toddler fancies pushing the carriage along by themselves. A glamorous alternative to the popular Little Tikes cars!

Who doesn’t love slime (check out our great homemade slime how to video by the amazing daisy’s Days here)

This kit provide a one stop, messy but planned-out fun box! Comes with protective googles and gloves, plus the tools, ingredients and step-by-step instructions to make an invisible monster, slimy snakes, sludgy goo, slime balls and, of course, slimy bogies. Science at its most gooey!!

What child (and adult?!) doesn’t love some toilet humour?! Who’s going to get gushed by the flush? A fun – and funny – family suspense game where you take turns to spin the loo roll to see how many times you have to flush the temperamental (water-filled) toy toilet that may – or may not – spray you with (just a little) water. For 2 players or more; needs 2 AA batteries (included).

If you love a treasure hunt, then this toy is for you! Set to be a leader in the collectible craze, this toy will keep your kids entertained for hours. You have to open a map which tells you what you’re going to discover and then you chip away at the block to get components to build a figure. 1 in every 50 has a piece of real gold or a real diamond hidden inside…

So there you have it. Our pick of the best toys for Christmas 2018! Please post and tell us what you are excited about and any others you recommend!! Us Elves always love toy testing – life is about fun, fun, fun!!!

Why should we encourage creative play in our children?

Never before has it been more important to encourage children to use their imaginations and take part in imaginative play. Is anybody else worried about the long term effects on children not learning to be imaginative? And aside from the serious future society concerns it’s a shame because imaginative, make believe is just pure fun and so we should encourage children to make the most of it whilst they can!!

However, it’s tough being a parent and trying to do the best for our little nippers all the time is a challenge; sometimes the easiest solution is to give into the good old BBC (British Babysitting Cooperation!) As much as some screen time is beneficial, I believe as parents we should be seeking out opportunities for our children to develop their imaginations as otherwise their brain development suffers. There is so much evidence to show that learning through play is an essential part of healthy learning and development for young children. And imagination exercises the brain. Like anything, without practise and exercise it won’t work as well and so if we don’t teach our children to be imaginative and encourage opportunities for imaginative play they will not develop this part of their brain which will actually do them a disservice in later life.

So if you think you will be keen to encourage your child when they are a teenager to do well in their school work and exams then I would start with encouraging as much pretend play in the early years as possible. Otherwise their brain may not be as well developed and ready for academic achievement as you may want!

As Albert Einstein said “Logic will get you from A to Z: imagination will get you everywhere”

There are so many other benefits to imaginative play, including social and emotional development. And with mental health issues being on the increase in young people it has never been more critical to help children with healthy mind development in the early years. Pretend play helps children to understand who they are and how they fit into the world. They can explore emotions, experiences and practice interactions in a safe environment. It helps with their Self -esteem and self -awareness as well as improving language and communication skills and physical development.

If nothing else the opportunity is short lived and I bet we all wish some days that we could put down our task list and go and play dinosaurs or kings and queens or pirates outside!!!

So we know we want to encourage more imaginative play in our young children, but what if we are not sure how to do this? Do we just give them their toys and get on with it?

There are plenty of great toys that inspire and facilitate imaginative play however I wouldn’t rely on expensive toys. We’ve all experienced the toddler at Christmas time who much prefers to play for hours with the cardboard box rather than the toy inside!!

So if you need some inspiration here are 11 ways to ignite the imagination of your young ball of fun and encourage pretend play in your children……

1/ Organise the play space –

Spend some time organising the toy space and boxes so they are easy to find favourite toys and create games with them. Better still create themed boxes or prop boxes using not only toys but household and old items you have hanging around. For example….

Dressing up items (hats, scarves, old clothes, accessories etc.)

Blankets and pieces of fabric for den building

Old telephones and calculators

Cooking utensils

Stuffed and plastic toys

2/ Mix up the play environment –

Take toys outside and mix up where toys are used so they can create new environments. For example take the dinosaurs to the park, set up a teddy bears picnic, airport or village in the garden.

3/ Put on a show –

A lot of kids love creating a show! And as much as it can be as excruciating to sit through, it’s a great way for them to develop confidence, play with ideas of creating structure and stories and learn about team work if they are doing it with others. Don’t worry about the end product, let them enjoy the process and encourage them to create stage space, use music and props. If they don’t know where to start then suggest they act out their favourite film, story or song. And facilitate their show space – either inside or outside; create a staging area for them to work in. Depending on the age and enthusiasm of your children you may want to be involved, starting them off with some ideas and even taking part and being parts alongside them (this is great as children LOVE telling their grown up’s what to do, so a great experience for them to do this.) Or if they are older you can give them an objective and a time limit and say you want to come and watch their show in 30 minutes.

4/Set up a mud kitchen

What kid doesn’t love a mud kitchen! The initial reaction for this suggestion is ‘no way’ for most parents because of the mess! However if preparation is done and the right clothes are worn and everyone expects to get dirty then its fine! Obviously this is not an activity to do the morning before you are meeting the grandparents for lunch! But if you can spend an hour after tea doing this, you can throw them straight in the bath and clothes straight in the washing machine and everyone’s happy (and tired and ready for bed!) The evidence for the benefits of outdoor play and exploration in nature are far reaching. And allowing your toddler a controlled time where they can get as muddy as they like is therefore ideal!

5/ Create a den

This doesn’t have to be outside, although that is great too. But a living room den is one of the most exciting things ever!! Get chairs, blankets, cushions and set up camp with your tikes!! Once it’s set up take snacks and stories inside and get cosy!! If you end up shifting sofa’s and tables to make it you have the added benefit of being about to reach areas that need cleaning afterwards as you may as well before you put them back!! So it gets a job done too!!

6/ Set up role plays and take part with your little one –

Shops, schools, transport, airports, restaurants, doctors and mechanics all make great scenarios to role play out. Don’t worry if you don’t have actual items to use – it’s about make believe! I was recently talking to a producer who was casting a new children’s BBC programme and was visiting schools and asking reception aged children to pretend to have a tea party with her. She said about half the children she met and played with didn’t understand what she meant by pretending to serve her an imaginary drink! Which is worrying! So get pretending with them!

7/ Go outside and find what you can to make a fairy house and fairy garden –

Bark, leaves, twigs, whatever you can find and get creative. You could even get some air drying clay and use that for some structures for your garden. It’s not expensive and can be bought at most craft shops. Encouraging children to create structures and design spaces in this way is a great way to get them thinking imaginatively, not just about the world of fairies but also how to be creative in what they create.

8/ Use a large cardboard box to make a puppet theatre –

Just cut a large square hole in the top half of the front, and a smaller one in the back where the junior puppeteers can enter. Hang a curtain inside the stage to hide the young performers. Make puppets out of socks or let them use dolls and stuffed animals to act out the stories.

9/ Building blocks and junk modelling –

It’s amazing how much time a child can spend with a set of building blocks. Ones that are colourful and different shapes are great too. Save up small cardboard boxes, kitchen rolls and other sturdy and clean rubbish too and do junk modelling together. This is an activity I guarantee once you start you will get carried away and end up with your own masterpiece!!

10/ Use your book collection –

As well as reading stories together, act them out; gather props to help in the expressing of the story. Encourage your child to draw a picture of different scenes in the stories or even feelings of the characters. Certain stories like ‘Going on a bear hunt’ are good as you can create the space in your living room and create your own obstacles to act out the story.

11/ Create a luck dip bag –

Create a bag with a variety of items – toys and non-toys (but intriguing, safe items from around the house that have interesting textures) that can be easily taken around with you and used for a ‘lucky dip’ surprise anytime and any place you need some play distraction!

And a few bonus ideas –

Join in with your children’s play – research shows that adults who join in with their children are able to understand their children and communicate better with them. Avoid taking over though, let them lead. It’s a good idea to watch them play first and then when you join in stick with the theme / characters that they have set until they tell you otherwise. They will love feeling like they are in the driving seat and it will give them confidence and help them develop leadership and communication skills in telling you what they want you to do in the scenario. Remember play doesn’t have to be perfect.

If a child doesn’t know how to pretend they’ll rely on you to start the play. In which case see which toy takes their interest and then pick their favourite and start to do something interesting with it – dressing a doll, flying the plane or pouring an imaginary cup of tea. Taking turns with a toy which captures a child’s heart is the best way to motivate them to start pretending.

Keep it simple. There’s no need to introduce too many new pretend ideas at once. Children love repetition and learn from it, so they will likely enjoy practicing any new pretend actions over and over again.

Have a good time. The time with young children is short and precious. Soon you’ll be battling over homework and what time they will be in…….so make the most of this time with them now……

Happy playing and let us know your favourite scenarios and imaginative play ideas……

For 5 easy and fun art activities to do with your children at home see here

For 9 Fun Ideas for Water Activities to do with your Children in the Back Garden see here

RT @BarefootFest: Who said the Summer Holidays have to be boring?
We've got a JAM-PACKED programme to keep the kids entertained.
From our dedicated Arts and Crafts tent, family yoga (hello loads of Dad dancing) and even a family cinema...
Tickets -> https://t.co/6df2kuOzLdhttps://t.co/8e8J3c4a5d,Mar 14